Information tickets or stickers which contain information about a retail item or other merchandise, such as a price, barcode identification, manufacturer's information, etc., are commonly known as swing tickets. These swing tickets are affixed to corresponding merchandise and can be manufactured with embedded electronic article surveillance (“EAS”) or radio frequency identification (“RFID”) components. Current solutions involve imbedding electronic sensors inside a thin stock printed swing ticket, usually constructed from cardboard. However, this method does not protect the ticket or sensor inside from damage or tampering. The current approach also does not prevent bending, tearing or removal of the swing ticket itself.
Swing tickets made from cardstock are typically attached to items such as clothing and other textiles using thin plastic tagging pins. The plastic tagging pins are attached using a tagging gun which pierces the item to simultaneously insert the pin and the swing ticket. A disadvantage of this system is that the swing ticket can be easily damaged or removed. Removing the swing ticket can be accomplished without the use of tools, since the ticket can be either torn away from the pin or the pin manipulated to allow the extraction of the ticket. Another disadvantage is that once the swing ticket is removed, price switching becomes a possibility. If the ticket includes an RFID label, unauthorized removal will result in compromised data integrity and errors. If the ticket includes an EAS sensor and is removed, the product is left unprotected from possible theft.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus for protecting a swing ticket from damage or removal by effectively securing the swing ticket to its associated item.